1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a technique for starting (or restarting) a computer system and loading the operating system, and specifically to starting (or restarting) a computer system and loading the operating system utilizing an electronic mail or messaging protocol.
2. Background Information
Currently, a computer system is booted, that is, started (or restarted) a computer system and loading the operating system, by loading a boot image. Often the boot image is loaded from a local media, such as, for example, a hard drive, optical storage (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, etc.), a flash memory (e.g. a pen drive), a floppy drive, etc. Occasionally, the boot image may also be loaded in whole or part via a network connection. In some instances this may involve the use of the PreBoot Execution Environment (PXE), which is described in the specification (v2.1) published by Intel and Systemsoft on Sep. 20, 1999, or a substantially equivalent implementation of either the specification, the specification's predecessors, or derivatives of the specification.
In this context, a boot image may be a computer file or files containing the complete or the partial contents and structure of a computer storage media. When it is transferred on a boot device it may allow the associated hardware to boot. A boot image usually, but not always, includes the operating system, utilities and diagnostics, as well as boot and data recovery information. It also may includes those “applications” used organization-wide. A specialized image for a particular type of user or department is called typically a departmental boot image. Building such an image can take days or weeks, and involve complex decisions about licensing and permissions—including which passwords to store in the boot image and which to require users to type in—and requires experts in software integration to do. However, once built, the boot image can often be simply copied onto devices, patched within reasonable limits, and remains disposable in case of any problems (viruses in particular).
Current network booting, specifically for example the PXE requires Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) with special option tags and Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP). The DHCP is a set of rules used by a communications device (such as a computer, router or networking adapter) to allow the device to request and obtain an Internet address from a server which has a list of addresses available for assignment. Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a very simple file transfer protocol, with the functionality of a very basic form of File Transfer Protocol (FTP); it was first defined in 1980. Unfortunately, both the option tags and TFTP are routinely blocked by many of today's routers or firewalls.